


Can you feel the heat?

by Astrafix



Category: Osmosis Jones (2001)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Death, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm trying, La Muerte Roja family as characters, Leah is not amused, Leah is the braincell of the group, M/M, Or at least I'm planning for Slow Burn, Ozzy is tired, She is also tired, Sickness, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Swearing, Thrax is a cool villain, hehe get it, kind of character study
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27489571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrafix/pseuds/Astrafix
Summary: The Muerte Roja family. A famous and deadly family of viruses that made their way into medical books as lethal deceases. And little Thrax was part of that family, but he wanted to belong to that family. To deserve that name.So he began to train.And the day he finally got to put his training to action, oooh boy, all the practicing paid off.
Relationships: Leah Estrogen & Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones, Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones & Drixenol "Drix" Koldriliff, Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones/Thrax
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	1. La Muerte Roja

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again! I went on a writing strike yesterday and this came out, and I'm happy with the result! I plan on making a schedule so i can practice writing more and stop procrastinating so there's new chapters coming soon!
> 
> And guess who procastinated

The Muerte Roja family. A famous and deadly family of viruses that made their way into medical books as lethal deceases. Some deaths caused by them would be quick and efficient, targeting the brain or the medulla spine giving the infected an almost unsatisfying end. Other deaths caused by them would be brutal and messy, failing organs, blood filled lungs, brain failures, deteriorating skin. Making the victim wish for a much quicker end.

But no matter the symptoms they got the result was always sure, death, and a bloody one. There was no cure for them. They were inevitable. And little Thrax was part of that family. His mother would teach him different places to target when infiltrating a body, his father would teach him ways to hide from the bloodcells. They both taught him all the different styles and techniques the members of the family adopted that characterized them. He also wanted to have his own. His own style, his own mark. He wanted to belong to that family. To deserve that name.

So he began to train.

Writing down his father's instructions on how to hide, where to hide and the best moments to attack, his mother's list of all different places to hit, from the brain to the liver and even singular veins that would later connect with more important ones and finally an artery connected to half of the whole body. But he also needed to know how to defend himself, so his uncle taught him all the moves that would come in handy later on in his life, quick jabs at certain places, a certain amount of force to punch this and a particular way to move his legs to kick that.

And his auntie, his good old auntie. His mother said that his personality was shaped by her influence. His snarky and sassy way of life, his crooked little smiles and half lidded eyes that made for his intimidating charm. She would keep reminding him of that time she caught little child him hiding in his room standing in front of a mirror making faces that wanted to imitate his auntie, but instead maybe looked like he was in deep pain while still maintaining a winning smile to cover his gigantic want to die.

Nonetheless, she taught him maybe one of the most important things to him. She taught him how to appear untouchable. How to tilt his head a certain way that would make him seem unbothered and bored, or to raise an eyebrow while looking deep into someone's eyes that would make them extremely uncomfortable. He had seen that side of her in action many times, sometimes she and his uncle would bring him to their work reunions when they took care of him because his parents were busy with their work. He would watch and listen quietly, sitting on his auntie's lap, as his uncle negotiated with other viruses. And if they started acting up a single look from her would put them back in their places.

His uncle wasn't one for confrontation, not vocally at least, he knew how to throw a good punch but as soon as someone tried to start an argument with him the poor virus just didn't know what to do. And enter his auntie, who didn't use physical force for anything but used her simple presence to put order around. And, as Thrax came to notice, most of the times his auntie used the glassy roja eyes and sharp tongue it was to defend his uncle from someone. She was always there to watch his back, and his uncle was always there to watch hers. Thrax felt sorry for anyone that tried to face the two.

And so Thrax grew up, surrounded by good and experienced teachers. Aprimorating his fighting skills, studying his possible targets, and practicing his mannerisms. When his claw finally grew to be a sharp dagger that resembled his family's then the fun started. He used bloodcell dummies to practice cutting their throats or chests as elegantly as possible, after all what use is the efficiency if you don't got the class?

But the day he finally got to put his training to action, oooh, all the practicing paid off.

It was flawless. He entered through the mouth, the guy picked his food up from the table Thrax was waiting on and as soon as he went through the throat down to the stomach he was revisiting everything in his head again, thinking about his plan b and c if the other failed.  
He didn't wait to kill any cell he found in his way, they were small and round with no defense whatsoever, but Thrax knew not to underestimate anyone. His father's scar reminded him of that. The lesser cells around, the weaker and unprotected the body. By the time he started attacking there wouldn't be enough cells to repair the damage as quickly as they could, and by the time they repaired the damage he would have already done something else.

It was beautiful watching everything go to chaos, what once was so organized and harmonious was now falling to pieces. Cells ran around trying to repair some damage here, stabilize something else there but they just couldn’t do it. They were getting too slow.

And Thrax wanted a good view of it, so what better place than the high command tower?

Getting there was as easy as he thought it would be, the cells were too busy trying to get the liver to work again to pay attention to the tower. The mayor herself was gone, probably wanting to go there and calm the cells around, show she was taking care of it. The guards went down quietly, he stuck to the shadows, they never saw it coming. Just felt the warmth on their guts and then those slipping out.

And then when he saw them, he knew it then and there. He was just walking around looking for something to do, waiting for new guards to show up on the corridor. But that door just looked waayy too attractive you know, it was almost calling for him. So he cut the door open with his claw and went in. The DNA floating with a reddish light almost like it was on fire, it was beautiful. He needed it. 

But he needed something to take them, wher- oh. He took the chain on his pants. While holding it with one hand, he used the other to reach for the dna minding his elongated claw so as to not burn it or something. They felt weird to the touch but it was just.. perfect. Here he was holding someone's dna, directly from their brain. He had reached the most important but extremely fragile region, and was taking something from it. This was the perfect trophy.

After leaving that body through the person coughing blood into the ground as he glided away, he was more satisfied than ever. It was very nice for a first time, took some time to do it but he'd get other chances. While he floated he looked at his trophy in his hand with the chain tangled around it. The person was probably dead by now, and the little dna knew it. He squished it a little and the guy shone a bit more brightly. It was probably lonely.

He would get it some new friends.


	2. Chill down your spine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Osmosis Jones, hero of Frank town who works as a police officer is a fun and handsome guy who's friends with Drix the cold pill, together they keep the town safe and fight crime. But after a tough break up, becoming a workaholic and developing a coffee adiction he has seen better days, and could do with some more excitement in his life.
> 
> Just not like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeahh!! i'm back everyone! After procastinating so much I finally made one more chapter! Hope you like it :)

Just a new day in Frank town doing Police work. Patrolling the city, reading paperwork, signing paperwork, drinking coffee, complaining why his relationships don't last, get as much work as possible, going to sleep late and then restart.

Normally, Osmosis Jones would describe himself as quite handsome, but he would be a little more humble now. He had deep dark shadows under his eyes, his posture was sagged and screamed tired, and his eyes were half lidded too for a little charm. His right eye more than the left one.

Jones sagged a little more in his chair to get more comfortable, and now looked like he was dissolving away. He was waiting for Drix to be back with all the papers with the info they needed for their new case. A cell was murdered in a dark and secluded area. Surprisingly it had a lot of details, but they were weird ones that were probably put there to make them waste their time, like random plasma from other cells that were still alive and kicking. Or a cryptalized text message in a phone hidden in the victim's pocket that said "teeth :)". They looked around the mouth and didn't find shit.

there was also a sticker glued to the victim's back that said "2".

He knew that trick, good old school prank, but they couldn’t stop looking for another body. Running a hand down his tired face, he heard laughter coming from his right and looked at that direction, finding Drix surrounded by cells laughing at something he had said, the pill had that little smile that appeared every time he "successfully socialized with his co-workers". And as always his eyes searched for Jones, when he found him the cell threw him a big proud smile. Drix's smile grew a bit more.

Drix seemed to be holding the documents they needed, and it was a big ass stack of papers. He must have followed Jones's line of sight because he excused himself and went over to the tired cell. Eyeing his posture disapprovingly but handing him the documents anyway.

"So we got everything we need?" Jones asked while looking through the documents rapidly. There were some witnesses that claimed to have seen someone in dark clothes and an obscured face leaving from the direction of that alleyway, and other clues like bloodied knives and more stickers in different parts of the city that were very far away from each other but could be connected somehow. They were searching for scraps now.

"Yes, do you want to 'get going' or would you like some coffee first?" Jones was accepting the coffee automatically before his brain caught up with Drix's attempt at normal talk but by then his friend had already gone to get coffee, so he could only stare at his back with a deadpan face.

His phone started to buzz, so he shook his head ignoring the smile that escaped his mouth and picked it up. It was a message, from an unknown number, that said "watch your back Jones". Weird, very weird. But he was used to receiving threats, sometimes he would catch a guy with lots of influence and connections which would then threaten to avenge him or something but never actually acted up on it. Jones just closed the message and went on to look at the news. Oh look, the new hospital had finally finished building and would be opening tomorrow, the mayor was standing in the photo pointing a hand at it like he was showing off the hospital and using his other hand to point at Leah who was there by his side, the news said it was her idea, sounds like her.

There it was again, that little ache in his heart. His relationship with Leah didn't last long, it was mostly because their work kept them separated most of the time and both of them wanted a relationship where they could have time to be with each other. No calls in the middle of the night asking him to be reinforcement or reporters swarming them as soon as they stepped out of home to know what was the new project the mayor had been hinting about this week.

But Jones still couldn’t shake that feeling that it was his fault somehow. Maybe it was the way he acted or dressed, like, look at Leah in the photo, all respectful business woman working in the brain and sharp clothes. And look at him. He shook his head.

You know what, no, depressing thoughts, cancel that.

His phone buzzed again, probably the unknown number, he would block it and then report the number. When he opened the message, he expected another basic threat like "you messed with the wrong cells" or "we're coming for you". He didn't expect a photo of him from the back sitting in the chair he was currently sitting through the glass doors of the police department he was currently inside.

He spun around so quickly he almost fell out of chair, but he didn't find anything suspicious. No one outside, there were some cells looking at him weird now but it was because his eyes were bulging out of his face, his heart was beating like crazy and his hands were sweating, he would hold the phone a little more tightly to keep it from slipping if he wasn't already almost crushing it. What the fuck.

Reporting that shit now.  
.  
.  
.  
.

What do you mean the number doesn't exist??

How do you even do that?!?

He almost jumped out of his plasma membrane when he felt a hand on his shoulder but it was just Drix holding a cup of coffee for him. He also had a deeply concerned look on his face.

"Hey, uh, are you okay?" - Drix asked while patting his shoulder lightly - "are you sweating??" He asked again, lifting his hand back slowly.

"Yeah..-I, uh.." He grabbed the coffee cup from Drix's hand and took a sip "just some crazy shit man"

Drix looked at him expectantly.

"Oh? Like what?" - Drix asked while eyeing Jones, who was drinking his coffee with a haunted look on his face while staring at the ground, cautiously – “you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He quickly added.

"No, no, it's just some shady stuff -" Jones offered Drix his phone and the pill took it looking at the screen with the messages, and a pop up saying "the number you tried to report doesn't exist". 

"-Just got a message telling me to watch my back and then a photo of me sitting here, from the back" the cell sighed.

"Now the number doesn't exist-like how do you even delete your number that quickly?" He asked his friend indgnantly, glaring at the ground.

When he didn't get an answer he looked at Drix. The pill had a serious expression on his face.

"Jones did you read the papers I gave you?" Drix asked, side eyeing the cell.

Jones frowned "Not really, just checked it, why?"

"Look at the last paper"

Jones's frown still in place, he grabbed the last paper of the stack and read it. His mouth hanged open.

There on the list of stickers that were found that could be linked to the murder, was a photo of one sticker in particular with a phone number on it.

The same number he just tried to report.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild plot appears!
> 
> Yaayy, hope you liked it, and don't worry I'll make sure to write atleast something everyday. Thank you for reading :)


	3. Keeping you still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jones and Drix look deeper into the number they found and discover new clues.
> 
> Meanwhile, something is happening in the shadows, taking cover by the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy, So I did dissapear for.. Some time, but here you go! It's also longer than the last two :)
> 
> I was having difficulty finding a good plot but I decided to just have fun writing it and let the story come to me as I write. Enjoy!

The mindblowing fuckery that happened after finding out the number (or one of them probably) of the suspect was astronomical. Jones was fuming and so electric it seemed that all the coffee he's ever drank in his life finally had an effect, while Drix was trying to calm his friend down and speak to the cells they needed since his friends's words sounded more like fast mumbling.

They were now sitting in the legal hacker's room and waiting for her to be back from fetching an equipment she needed. Jones was trying really hard to make his leg stop bouncing but when his leg stopped he started fumbling with his hands, and if he stopped his hands his eye would start twitching so all the energy was still inside and bubbling to get out but he couldn’t do anything without looking like he was in abstinence.

He would scream in the bathroom later. Yeah, he'd do that. 

Drix looked at the cell with a concerned look for the fourth time since the hacker left, and it was two minutes ago. It was starting to get on Jones's nerves. When Drix's eyes didn't seem to leave him, Jones also turned to look at his friend but with a near maniac look, he tried to go for a smile but it didn't even reach his eyes. And his left eye was twiching. Drix slowly turned to look at the door again. 

Just as the hacker was walking through it, a paper and what looked like a very small chip in hands. She walked to her table and sat down, writing something on her computer while looking back at the paper. She started talking with them.

"So, how quickly did the number disappear again?"

Jones closed his eyes and pressed his hand on his temple in concentration "uuhh, let me- uh, two minutes. Probably."

The hacker looked at him, as if to say something, but seemed to notice the state he was in for the first time. Jones shifted on his seat. She looked back at her computer.

"Alright, I can work with that" She finished writing something and then grabbed Jones's phone from the table, put the little chip in, connected it to the computer by a cord and laid back in her chair. "This might take some time, have you contacted security yet? Maybe whoever it was appeared on the security cameras."

Jones looked at his friend and Drix answered for him. "I did, the security camera on the outside caught someone in a hoodie seemingly taking a picture and walking away calmly, but other than that there's nothing that can help us find them." Jones deflated a little in his chair.

The hacker nodded slowly, her attention back to her computer. It gave a soft beeping noise, and she leaned forward again, tapping away quickly and effortlessly, writing on her own phone sometimes. Jones made himself more comfortable on his chair, switching between bouncing his leg and fumbling with his hands.

Five minutes later, and Jones was sure of that because he counted every second, the hacker let out a hushed "yes" and beckoned them closer with her hand. They stood beside each side of her chair and looked at the screen; it was black but with a series of white, yellow and red numbers in organized lines. There were letters too and.. is that a name?.

She looked at them with a smug face and then noticed both of their lost faces, she quickly explained. "I tracked the number, they deleted it but it was still saved in your phone's history. After getting the number, I traced it and looked into it's coding in the Net. And would you look at that, I also found a name that if you look here-" she pointed at that name surrounded by numbers, grabbed her phone from the table and searched for it in the BraiNet. What came up was a street in the far south of Frank town, the place seemed a little suspicious, too many dark corners.

She disconnected Jones's phone from her computer and gave it to him, he quickly opened up his notes and wrote the street's name. Drix presented his hand to the hacker with a smile. "Thank you for your help, now we have at least something to look into"

She leaned back in her chair and shook his hand with a smile of her own. "Just doing my job, good luck on your search." She gave Jones a nod. He nodded back with a smile and quick "thank you" before rushing out of the door, Drix following quickly behind.

__*__

Stylized boots walked on much simpler streets, somewhere dark. There were a lot of small tricky holes on the ground, and the owner of those boots avoided them expertly. They seemed to be limping but you'd only notice that by walking very closely to them. They used a big coat that bounced around as they walked, it looked torn or burned, hard to tell. They also used a dark hat and scarf which obscured their face.

The street was empty and quiet, a single light post struggled to illuminate the entirety of it. They stopped under that light post and leaned on it, putting more weight on one of their legs.

After some time another dark figure, but smaller, walked into that same street. They stopped close to the light post, leaned in closer to the taller figure for a moment, leaned away, and walked inside an old building. The taller figure followed.

__*__

After getting that new clue, Jones and Drix went to the cell's house. They were sat at the couch, take out boxes scattered around the ground but Drix ignored it for now, and laid out all the papers with the info for the case between them.

Drix was searching for more sticker photos, maybe they'd have something important or even another number. But Jones was searching for an specific paper. After Drix pointed out that the number of his messenger was in one of the documents, he read them all quickly in his panic, but he was sure that throughout his blur of a memory, there was one paper with a street name that was close to the place they found now.

After some time searching, he finally found that paper and compared the street address to the image of the clue they got. It was a street right next to it, and seemed just as shady. Jones looked at his friend who was reading two papers at the same time with a serious expression.

“Hey man, I got something here that might be important, not sure how tho” He passed the paper and his phone to Drix, who slowly nodded, then hummed.

“This address on the paper is where the body was found, but it wouldn’t make sense for someone to commit a murder close to where they frequent normally or live.”

Jones nodded. “Maybe they were desperate? Had to do something quick so they didn’t miss a chance? Cus let’s be honest a place like that is perfect to murder someone.”

“Indeed it is. But you did see how the cell was murdered right?” Jones nodded, his eyes darted quickly to one of the papers with a photo of the murder scene. 

“Straight through the guts, from the back. Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.” Jones said with a sigh.

Drix continued. “It was also a pretty clean cut, in and out quickly. They knew what they were doing.” He said the last part with a meaningful look.

Jones looked at his friend’s face, the cell’s brow furrowing. “And what are you thinking?..”

Drix sighed weakly and said in a tired tone. “We have to start considering that maybe another virus has entered frank town, Jones.”

Jones looked down at the papers, a complex emotion of his face. Drix didn’t know if he looked angry, sad or frustrated. Maybe all at the same time.

Drix then passed Jones one of the papers he was reading. “We also have to consider that the first police team that got there reported the area around the wound was warm, and the morgue found traces of burned cytoplasm.” He looked Jones in the eye. “We both know someone who fits into all of those details perfectly.”

Jones sighed heavily and ran the hand that wasn’t holding the paper on his tired face. “C’mon Drix.. The guy is gone. I saw it with my own eyes.” Jones said weakly but looked back at the paper in his hand, quick efficient fiery jabs. That was just too much like him. But he saw him die. Didn’t he?

He fell into a cup full of alcohol, there’s no way he didn’t die.

Jones’s eyes moved to the photo of the murder. He suddenly felt a very familiar warmth on his neck, and his hand went up to touch it involuntarily. The memory of their fight replaying in his mind quickly. The feeling of that creepy chain wrapped around his neck bringing a phantom sensation. 

Too familiar. Too alike.

Jones lifted his eyes back to his friend, who was watching him silently.

Jones sighed.

“Well man, if the guy didn’t die, then we’re fucked. Because he’ll want a revenge for sure.”

Drix nodded heavily.

The pill tried to lighten up the mood. “You stopped him once remember? If it’s him, and he tries something, I’m sure we can stop him again.”

Jones looked back at the papers, his voice barely a whisper when he spoke. “I don’t know man.”

“I was a different cell back then.” 

__*__

The wooden floor creaked lightly as those stylized boots walked in, but still reverberated loudly through the big empty house. It was dark, just as dark as the outside, but the smaller figure seemed to know their way around as they led the taller one deeper inside.

They stopped in front of a door that opened with a quiet creaking sound compared to what would expected of a house like that. It led to a small room, empty except for the smaller door on the ground. The smaller figure pushed it open and gestured for the taller one to go in, going down the stairs right after and closing the door behind them.

They walked through that underground tunnel for some time in silence, until a faint light along with the sounds of talking and music could be heard on the end.

Different from the house they were just in, this place was sparse. Sofas and chairs all around, sitting on those were virus of all types, talking and drinking. But in the middle of the room, sitting on a big sofa, one figure stood out.

They were tall, their cytoplasm was a dark green and purple. They had four eyes distributed neatly around their face on top of a big, currently grinning mouth, which displayed sharp teeth.

A long arm with also long fingers brought a thick expensive looking cigar to that mouth. Another hand was holding a bottle of something alcoholic, also expensive looking. Another arm, but smaller, was holding a cup containing the liquid of that bottle and yet another smaller arm was placed elegantly on their thigh.

The smaller figure that was leading the taller figure looked back at their companion, nodded toward that individual in the middle of the room and walked deeper into the place, grabbing a cup from a tray a waitress was carrying around on their way.

The dark tall figure walked toward the individual on the sofa, once close enough, they sat themselves on the couch carefully and got more comfortable. The four-eyed individual poured the contents of the bottle in a cup and offered it to them. They took the cup, lowering the scarf covering their face to drink.

The figure smoking a cigar looked at them, up and down. “You look horrible.” their voice was suave, but carried a chill to it. Overly sweet.

The dark figure looked at the bigger one, who gestured at their damaged coat. “You could get changed, put on a new one.” 

The dark figure huffed something like a laugh and answered with a deep rumbling voice. “I’d rather not, this coat is special to me.” They looked at their companion. "Alright, why did you call me here? Your minion said you had something special to tell me."

The bigger individual swished their drink around their cup, the liquid glistening and spinning.

"I just thought you'd like to know that we got in contact with the little cop who whooped your ass." The dark figure growled at that, the bigger one continued before they could say anything. "And I have reasons to believe that he and his pill friend will be showing up around the area soon. That little stunt you pulled with that dead body a street away from here? We covered that easily enough, you're very welcome." They looked at their angry companion side-eyed.

Their voice was deeper and darker when they spoke. "Don't slip up like that again, Thrax. You won't always be in my good graces."

Thrax shook his head but remained quiet, choosing to change the topic. "Alright, you brought me here to threaten me, anything else?

The bigger figure fished a phone from the pocket of their suit and showed the screen to Thrax. It was a picture of the back of a familiar cell, it seemed to be taken through glass.

"We also gave him a little scare." They said with a smile too big for their face. “But we used your phone, you should get a new one.”

They put their phone back in their pocket, giving it two taps. "You wanted revenge didn't you? You were moping around for so long and then you killed that cell without thinking. So here you go, he'll follow the address we left, he'll show up there soon, get it over with." They took a drag of the cigar.

Thrax sighed and didn't comment. The bigger figure looked at him. "What's wrong?"

The virus shrugged. "You really just did all of that, and why? Because you love me?" He said with a sneer.

The bigger figure put a hand in their chest, dramatically feigning deep offense. "Can't an auntie just care for her nephew and assure he gets the revenge he wants?"

Thrax blinked slowly at her.

She dropped the act. "Ugh, you always remind me so much of your old aunt. But indeed, this won't come for free, I'll need you to do some work for me too."

Thrax tensed a little at the mention of his aunt, but masked it by shifting on the couch. "Seems just fair."

His auntie looked at him surprised. "Huh, normally we'd start arguing and jumping at each other's throats at this point. I even mentioned the old glassy roja." Thrax didn't react, just quietly drank his drink.

She cocked her head to the side still looking at him, but now with a frown on her face. Four eyes blinked one after the other. "Well? Aren't you going to make a snarky response? Say something sassy and then leave?"

Thrax drank the rest of his drink in one go, grabbed the bottle from her hand and poured himself some more. His scarf falling away from his face at the actions, exposing burned scarred cytoplasm. "You know." He drawled out, swishing his drink and looking at his cup like his auntie did before.

"I'm a different virus now."


	4. Springing to action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jones could swear he heard quiet steps behind him but refused to look back. It was probably Drix.
> 
> But Drix doesn't step anywhere. He floats.
> 
> Jones shook his head and noticed he was now very close to his car. He was paranoid, he was tired and the situation was just getting on his mind that's all.
> 
> He went to open the door but then everything happened too quickly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Now you guys get that good old action and finally some Thrax and Jones interaction ^^
> 
> Took some time but it's longer than the last chapter :] Enjoy!
> 
> For plot purposes, since Drix's arm-canon can change to any possible weapon as seen in the show. He also has a weapon that freezes stuff

Gun, checked. Cool jacket, checked. Phone, checked. Car keys - Where are the car keys.

Jones tapped all the pockets in his pants, from sides to back, and looked around the house at the same time. He could swear he had put the keys in his pocket- There it is. He ran to his couch, leaning down and getting his keys that were halfway under it. He noticed a lot of dust as he immediately sneezed. This house needed some serious cleaning, he thought as he rubbed his nose a little.

Drix was waiting for him at the police station, they needed to get permission to go looking for those clues, or at least that's what the pill said, Jones wanted to just go over there and search the place already but the rules gotta be followed.

Jones walked outside his house, closing the door behind him. It was a pretty chill day so far, families were walking around the neighborhood, one was pushing a baby cart and talking animatedly with each other, kids were playing tag, their laughter reverberating around the street. It was nice to see.

He walked to his car and got in, turning the engine on and just sitting there. He looked at the visor, his face looked less like he had been awake his whole life without ever consuming food. And his left eye stopped drooping.

After he and Drix had talked about their new clue, his friend insisted that he slept a little. The pill made him a warm cup of milk, led (more like pushed) him to his bedroom, and laid him down. He searched through his nightstand and found a book about crime mysteries, he made fun of the hat the character on the cover was using but proceeded to read it to him.

They made fun of the story for literally any reason they could find, they laughed and looked at each other with exaggerated surprise when the mystery was solved and a plot twist happened. It was nice, and helped Jones relax a lot. He soon felt his eyelids getting heavy and couldn't stop a yawn from escaping his lips. 

Drix finished reading the chapter and closed the book, getting up and patting Jones on the shoulder, quietly whispering "good night" and walking out of the door, closing it with a soft click. Jones could just mumble a good night back and was soon asleep.

That rest helped him a lot and now he felt a little bit more like himself, he drank his morning cup of coffee but it was less caffeinated than usual. He didn't need much more energy today or else god help his friend keep up to him. 

His phone buzzing bought him back from his thoughts and his heart skipped a beat. Drix said he'd send him a message so they could meet at the station but what if it was another threat? 

And it was an unknown number. 

Of course it was.

He didn't have enough energy to focus and possibly go after someone back at the police station but now? He definitely would get out of his car and give whoever was taking pictures of him a piece of his mind as well as a good punch to the face.

His hand hovered over his gun as his other hand went to his phone, he quickly turned the screen on and instantly relaxed altogether. It was Drix, he was saying they had been granted permission to go investigate, attached to the text was a selfie his friend took showing the documents with a proud smile on his face.

He must have asked someone to borrow their phone for that. He still didn't get why his friend didn't buy one, and probably never would because he refused to say why.

Jones scoffed and rolled his eyes, putting the phone back in his pocket.

His eyes drifted back to his reflection on the visor, he softened his hair and passed his hand down his face to rest on his chin. He wasn't shy to admit that his appearance played a great part in his confidence and overall mood, and to be honest he looked a lot better today. Could be better, but now they had a case to crack.

He flashed himself a wink, winning smile and gun fingers before putting the car on reverse and into the street, careful not to hit the kids still running around.

As Jones's car left the street and went deeper into the city, one family in particular, followed his exit with their eyes. The cell holding the baby cart grabbed a phone from their pocket calmly and the other smiled and waved at a little kid who stumbled and almost fell in front of them. 

They continued their walk normally.

__*__

As soon as Jones parked in front of the station, Drix got inside and fastened his seatbelt around himself. Smart decision because Jones was on fire today and practically flew around the city to the address they had.

Drix's hand left a mark on the window as he got out much slower than his friend who jumped out, closed the door, and checked his gun again with a grin on his face. 

They were going to solve whatever was going on here, or else, he wasn't Osmosis fucking Jones. 

Drix looked at his friend with a fond smile, he knew that expression is the cell's face and quite honestly missed it a lot. Jones was back in full spirit. He felt his own energy go up a little and puffed out his chest.

Together they walked the street. The houses seemed old, some more than others, and the light posts were in very bad conditions. Only three seemed to be working because they had their light bulb intact and not broken like the rest. There was one close to where they parked the car, one at the end of the street and one in between. 

It was still morning but once it started to get late things would be getting dark. 

Drix looked at all the houses and the street again, the place seemed desolate, no cells anywhere and the bad conditions of the houses screamed abandoned street. Now why it was abandoned was a good question.

He had searched about it quickly at the station but didn’t find any info on that, some months back cells just started leaving their houses and moving to other places. Eventually there would be a passerby, that's how the body got found, but now it was very quiet. Weird.

The body was found in between two houses Jones was currently walking towards. A dark stain in the ground marked where the body had rested for a night before the police found it. Thankfully the death had been quick - still painful - but it ended soon.

Drix stood in front of it, quietly paying his respects. Jones looked at it with a pensive expression, he looked at the house for a moment and then walked towards the front. The ground of the front porch was clean and so was the area around, no more plasma stains.

The traced cellphone number had shown the murderer lived here or around the corner in the next street. They could also just walk these streets normally, the number's code stated that this location was where it was the most. Weird decision but whatever.

Just because they traced the number to here didn't mean they'd find the criminal around, they could very well have left. The police had already investigated the scene and the two houses close to it and didn't find anything useful. But they did leave the rest of the houses for another team to look into. That team happened to be him and Drix.

Jones looked at his friend who had moved from the plasma stain and was now looking from one house roof to the other with his arms crossed. 

"What are you looking for?" Jones walked to stand beside his friend, mimicking his position and crossing his arms. Following the pill's line of sight, he could see a very small stain in the old orange brick roof. It seemed to be burnt. Looking at the roof with more attention, he noticed that some bricks were missing and all of those followed a line behind and after the burn stain.

"Seems like someone climbed the roof" Drix mumbled with a low voice, not turning his head to look at Jones. Eyes fixated on the burn stain.

Jones nodded, trying to imagine the scene and what could have made the murderer climb the roof. Were they running away? What or who would they be running away from? Did they leave through the roof or did they come from it?

A lot of possible scenarios formed themselves in Jones's mind. His previous theory about them killing without thinking better about it showing up again. Maybe the killer had been waiting for someone to show up in this dark corner, and once a victim passed by they attacked.

And then maybe the cell that reported the body also showed up after that and scared them away? But why run? Especially so desperately that they climbed the roof and could have fallen down?

Wait - but if they had the time to wait for a victim maybe they could have noticed the location wasn't exactly the best. Was it a last-second decision then? Were they walking the street at the same time? If so the murderer must have blended in right? They'd have to be a cell too.

Right?

But.. wouldn't the cell that reported the body have heard those bricks falling down? 

Wher-

Where are the bricks? 

Drix seemed to reach that conclusion the same time Jones did as they both looked at the ground around the area. No fallen brinks insight. They looked at each other, both with a frown on their faces.

"Did the team clean the bricks for some reason?" Jones asked his friend. 

were there bricks when they got here?.

Drix shook his head slowly, looking to the side as if trying to remember what was written on the papers they left at Jones's house. "No.. I don't.. think they mentioned any bricks in the evidence section."

Jones put his hands on his waist and frowned at the wall. It had what looked like shoe-sized dirt stains in it. "What are the possibilities the team hid the bricks, that burn stain by not mentioning it and these other things-" he nodded his head to the wall "for any possible reason?"

Drix looked at the wall and noticed the dirt stains, his frown deepened even more "I don't see why.. They'd do that, but apparently, very high."

Jones huffed a sigh and shook his head. "'S not the first time I'm dealing with corrupted cops, maybe they were paid to clean some stuff but like, why?" 

He started pacing. "They took a photo of me to what? Give me a scare or something? Grab my attention?" He stopped walking "Why would they want to bring our attention to this? Why even bother to hide stuff in the first place?" He looked at Drix, the pill had a very confused expression on his face and added his own question to the thread.

"And how did they know we were assigned this case? If the murderer is who I think it is, then would they want specifically your attention to it?" The pill passed a hand on his face. "If he is back he'd want revenge, but wouldn't he want to work in the dark first to do more damage? There haven't been any reports of strange activity yet."

They both fell silent, each in their own musings. Until Jones spoke again.

"Do they want us here?" The cell whispered, his hand found its way up to scratch his chin.

Drix tensed and looked around, suddenly taking in how eery the whole place seemed all at once. "I really hope not."

The thought "but looks like it" was shared in a single glance between them.

Jones shook himself as if trying to lift the weird-not-safe-weird- sensation from his body, and then looked around. "I hope so too 'cuz we still have to take a look at those houses man." 

Drix sighed and asked his friend what time it was. 12:47 pm. It'll be okay.

They have time.

__*__

By the time they were close to done exploring the houses, it had gotten dark. Jones was using his phone to illuminate the interiors where the light of the light posts couldn't reach but even then it was a scary thing. They bailed out after some time and decided to see the rest of it tomorrow. 

Drix seemed to be on edge all the time after that, looking around franticly at the smallest noise that later turned out to just be their steps echoing. Jones was checking everything he could, opening drawers and cabinets, and mostly not finding anything. They did find a plastic spoon that didn't look old, but can a plastic spoon even look old?

They left the houses in different states. Drix was tired, being alert and tense the entire day left his body aching and he just wanted to lay down for a bit. Searching the houses didn't give them any new clues outside of what they already gathered from the roof and wall.

Jones was.. curious to say the least. This whole situation was hella weird and honestly? That's why he became a cop, wasn't it? They were examining crime scenes again and looking for clues. He missed the excitement of it all. Was it a dangerous type of excitement where they could be exactly where the criminals want them to be? Yes. But at least he wasn't moping around and feeling sorry for himself anymore.

Both were lost in their own head as they stepped outside the last house of the street, and one light bulb went out. Jones didn't notice it until there were a burning noise and smell that made him look up to check it. It was the one closest to his car and thankfully it wasn't his car that was burning, it was the bulb itself who seemed to have reached its limit. Poor thing.

They kept walking and were in the middle of the way when the light close to the house they just left went out. The only light left was in the middle, the one they were standing under.

Jones looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow and noticed Drix had a similar expression, just more worried. The cell looked from left to right of the street and then crossed it, Drix following behind. Jones had a weird feeling, something wasn't right. This.. Could be a coincidence. The first bulb exploded but the second didn't make any sound. 

But the first one didn't explode either it just.. burned up.

Jones could swear he heard quiet steps behind him but refused to look back. It was probably Drix.

But Drix doesn't step anywhere. He floats.

Jones shook his head and noticed he was now very close to his car. He was paranoid, he was tired and the situation was just getting on his mind that's all.

He went to open the door but then everything happened too quickly.

The light suddenly went out and just as suddenly he got kicked at his side and thrown back, his friend shot blindly and probably missed because Jones felt something - or someone - brush past him and towards his friend. And then.

Something bright in the dark.

Drix's scream ringed around the empty street and Jones got up immediately, running towards the fervent light. He doesn't think, just tackles the virus -noticing the way he seems to grunt in pain at the contact - and rolls both of them away from his friend. He also hears the pill hissing quietly and freezing something.

Jones throws a punch at where he guesses is the virus's face judging by where his claw is and actually hits something, grazing his throat and landing at his chin with less force than intended.

Then his hand gets grabbed and he is thrown over the virus's shoulder directly to the ground, Jones grunts but get's up, it hurt like hell but the adrenaline is helping keep most of the pain at bay for now. He doesn't waste time in getting back to a fighting position, all he can see in the dense darkness are bright green-yellowish eyes that seem to trap his attention. They seem to illuminate things around them like Thrax's face, or is it his claw?

They are literally so bright it doesn't make sense. Are they glowing?

Jones's eyes are drawn to movement somewhere lower in time for him to dive back and away from the virus's fiery claw. Thrax almost immediately puts his hands on the ground, standing upside down, and spins his waist bringing his leg and a hard boot swinging straight into Jones's face making the cell stumble back. For some reason, the cell stands his ground and doesn't pass out from the sheer strength of the blow.

Thrax goes forward but hesitates, his eyes widening and then narrowing in a millisecond --a movement that Jones wouldn't catch if he wasn't still looking at his eyes, like for real they have to be glowing someh-- and ducks down. Jones gets engulfed in a freezing hug that ties his arms together and makes him fall back still stunned by the quick series of events.

Thrax's attention turns back to the pill, who is staring straight into the virus's eyes with his gun-arm ready and pointing at him. Jones is trying to wiggle himself back to a sitting position when a shot goes out and another follows quickly behind, the second accompanied by a grunting sound and then the sound of ice breaking on the asphalt.

By then Jones had managed to sit up and is trying to get up without sliding back down, his eyes keep going back to the fight going on in front of him. Drix is holding his ground but Thrax is a lot more agile and flexible - like what the hell just happened there, did he just spin-heel kick Drix's face and use his other foot to kick him away, and managed to not fall down after that?

The bastard landed on a perfect position how the f-

Drix shot again and hit the virus's shoulder, it made him stumble back but he would be getting up again soon. Jones got up as quickly as he could and threw himself to the ground making the ice around him shatter, a similar sound went out right after. 

Jones ran to his friend's side and watched as Thrax got up slowly, his bright glowing eyes slowly going from Jones to Drix and after a tense moment, he narrowed his eyes again and turned around, running deeper into the darkness.

Jones went after him, Drix shouted for the cell to wait but he didn't stop, just quickened his pace and followed the light of the virus's fiery claw. They ran until Thrax went inside a house and left the door open, then Jones stopped and thought better. Thrax showed back then that he had no problem seeing and attacking in the dark, now Jones? He'd be easy prey there. 

He also stopped because the -weird-dangerous-weird sensation hit him again in full force this time. He felt watched.

He slowly backed away from the house and walked back to his friend, still paying attention to any sound or light around him.

As he got closer to the car, he fished his phone from his pocket and turned the lantern on, the car was thankfully still intact, but looking at his friend he noticed a weird burn scar on his arm. The ice must have stopped the actions of the burning before it even started, but Jesus it looked bad.

"You okay man?" Jones asked while opening the car door. They needed to get out of here soon. He just felt that.

"I'll need to take a better look at it after but I'm not dissolving." Drix went to the other door and got inside the car after Jones.

The two took just a moment to take in deep breaths and then Jones was turning the engine on. The car left tire tracks on the asphalt as he drove away.

__*__

Outside a window, on the highest level of the house Thxrax disappeared in, the barrel of a gun could be seen still pointing at Jones's car and following it with no hesitation. The finger on the trigger slowly got closer and closer as the car got further away.

"Don't." A deep breathless voice commanded, followed by a hand without a shining claw falling on the smaller frame of the sniper's shoulder. "Let them go, it's not worth it."

The sniper brought the gun back inside, his dark purple face slightly illuminated by Thrax's claw, which the virus was currently analyzing in deep contemplation.

"It seems falling in alcohol did weaken me after all, otherwise that pill would have burned out of existence in mere seconds" He accentuated the part "burned" by making his claw glow even brighter.

The sniper watched the claw and Thxrax carefully. "So.. what happens now?"

Thxrax had an overly disinterested expression on his face as he said "I'll face the consequences of failing her, you know what happens now."

The sniper nodded somberly, she had a.. certain way of punishing those that failed her. Cells and viruses alike. But, Thrax was her niece. She wouldn't... 

Would she?

The sniper shifted uncomfortably, throwing his gun across his shoulder. "This was.. very unfortunate to say the least. I mean it was two against one. And you instructed me to not shoot any of them while you were fighting."

"Yes, I did." Thrax drawled out "I thought I had the pill back there but guess not. Only then it was two against one." 

The taller virus sat down heavily on a dusty couch close to the window. The sniper looked outside for a quiet minute.

"Did you have to accept her invitation? Could you not have followed me and left to another body?"

Thrax tilted his head to the side. "I could, but I would have died outside." He crossed his legs and rested his back against the couch. "It was a miracle I survived to begin with, and she knows it." He seemed to search for the right word to say but didn't find any. "She knows."

That sounded much darker than it had the right to.

The sniper looked down, and his phone buzzed on his pant's pocket. A single text from an unknown number that would be deleted later.

"State the outcome of the mission."

The sniper closed his eyes. They knew the outcome, there were watchtowers hidden all around the area and one of them must have seen the car leaving. They just wanted them to confirm it.

He looked at Thrax. The virus was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

He slowly nodded. 

The sniper looked back at his phone and typed taking as much time as possible.

"Failed."

The smaller virus got up, threw his phone to the ground, and cocked his gun. Shooting it and shattering its screen. There was a familiarity to those actions. The phone let out a tiny sound.

And then silence.

After some time Thxrax got up slowly and fixed his coat, slowly making his way to the stairs. His limping was back and he felt the punches the pill landed on him starting to ache all at once.

The sniper walked behind him slowly, they both knew what was coming but he still asked. If only to have at least some noise in the house.

"So, what happens now?"

Thxrax stopped in front of the stairs and took a deep breath.

"I'm not in her good graces anymore."

But he never was, to begin with

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That fighting scene was really fun to write :)
> 
> Hope you liked it and there's more coming soon!


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